Casino gaming is a sizable component of the entertainment industry in the United States. In 2002, there were 432 commercial (i.e., nongovernmental) casinos, with a combined revenue of more than $26 billion. In recent years, casinos have adopted the use of a computerized machine, often referred to as a video lottery terminal (“VLT”). Video lottery terminals are well known in the art, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,393,061 and 5,697,843 (both to Manship et al.). Unlike a conventional gaming machine that is mechanical in nature and pays out in negotiable currency in the event a winning combination of game elements is displayed, a VLT machine is microprocessor-based and pays out either in the form of credits (that can be redeemed for money) accumulated in the machine or in physical coins or tokens.
In many instances, VLTs are incorporated into a networked progressive gaming system in which multiple VLTs are connected to a central controller (“Jackpot Controller”) to increase play by providing a chance to win a progressive jackpot award. A progressive jackpot is a jackpot that increases in amount by taking a percentage of each bet played from each VLT connected to the system and adding it to the jackpot amount. Typically, this incrementing jackpot amount is advertised on an overhead sign or on the VLT display, to induce players to play. In many cases, the amount displayed is less than the actual jackpot amount so a rolling effect may be produced on the advertising display. When a player wins the jackpot, the actual jackpot amount is paid to the player, and the venue hosting the game will reseed the jackpot with a starting amount and restart the progressive accumulation.
Progressive gaming systems are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,728 (Barrie et al.), titled “Multiple Progressive Gaming System that Freezes Payouts at Start of Game”, discloses a gaming system in which the Jackpot Controller resets non-winning VLTs to a beginning amount when a win is registered by another VLT, preventing non-winning VLTs from awarding the claimed jackpot amount. However, other VLTs that are in play at the time the win is registered still play at the higher non-reset jackpot amount.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,486 (Nagao et al.), titled “Gaming System that Pays Out a Progressive Bonus Using a Lottery”, discloses a progressive jackpot payout on a lottery system, such that when a player hits a winning combination the player may win the progressive jackpot if the winning instance matches the predetermined lottery instance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,273 (Olsen), titled “Progressive Jackpot Gaming System with Secret Bonus Pool”, discloses a progressive game with a bonus mode which creates a time window in which all eligible machines may play for random bonus jackpots. Each award decrements the current value of the bonus pool until the bonus pool reaches zero.